The Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Thalamocortical Interactions will involve roughly 150 scientists of diverse expertise assembled to discuss and debate new findings related to the functioning of thalamus and cortex and their interactions. This will take place at the Ventura Beach Marriott in Ventura, CA during the period of 14-19 February 2016. The subtitle of this GRC is Cell and Circuit Properties. The meeting itself will involve a series of 20 minute talks followed by 10 minute discussion periods plus time each day for less formal interactions at poster sessions. This GRC will offer a unique combination of features, including: breadth of research; cutting-edge emphasis; mingling of investigators from all ranks and diverse sub-fields and locales; and intimate size and extended discussion time, allowing for close and sustained interactions. The program of this GRC emphasizes cell and circuit properties of thalamocortical interactions, and builds on these to explore their roles in cognition and neuronal disease states. This GRC represents a rare opportunity for neuroscientists interested in thalamocortical interactions to exchange new results, hypotheses, and ideas at many levels, from cellular through systems to cognitive and clinical. This is especially timely, because this field has been expanding significantly with the recent appreciation that thalamus plays an ongoing and critical role in cortical functioning, and newly described deficits in such disorders as schizophrenia, epilepsy, and autism appear to have at least partly a thalamocortical locus. We thus fully anticipate this GRC to significantly advance the field and potentially offer new insights into certain clinical conditions.